Pix of our new fuel truck

The Green Grape is born!

http://www.alexisparkinn.com/new_mighty_grape.htm
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Good show. We were paying $5.50/gal at the local self-serve fuel pump
until the local FBO bought a fuel truck. As soon as the pump operator
saw that fuel truck, the price dropped to $3.90 in a day!!!!

-Robert



Jay Honeck wrote:
The Green Grape is born!

http://www.alexisparkinn.com/new_mighty_grape.htm
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote:
The Green Grape is born!

http://www.alexisparkinn.com/new_mighty_grape.htm

50 gallons in space #7, please. G

Looks good!

Jay Honeck wrote:

The Green Grape is born!

http://www.alexisparkinn.com/new_mighty_grape.htm
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"


Jay, Nice truck. Your pics said the transfer tank is 55g. Doesn't Atlas
have 84 gallons worth of tanks? Does this mean you need to make at
least one trip to the gas station for each flight? I suppose the $55 or
so in savings for each full transfer tank makes it worth it, but it
seems to me by the time you figure in all the hassle and your time, that
you aren't saving all that much?

I guess I won't have to worry about it for mine, as my Six can't drink
the stinky stuff at all.

"Ray Andraka" wrote in message
...
Jay Honeck wrote:

The Green Grape is born!

http://www.alexisparkinn.com/new_mighty_grape.htm
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"


Jay, Nice truck. Your pics said the transfer tank is 55g. Doesn't Atlas
have 84 gallons worth of tanks? Does this mean you need to make at least
one trip to the gas station for each flight? I suppose the $55 or so in
savings for each full transfer tank makes it worth it, but it seems to me
by the time you figure in all the hassle and your time, that you aren't
saving all that much?

I think there are permit issues if you want to transport over 50 gallons.
Besides, I doubt he empties the tanks every time. I nkow I don't.

Steve Foley wrote:
"Ray Andraka" wrote in message
...

I think there are permit issues if you want to transport over 50 gallons.
Besides, I doubt he empties the tanks every time. I nkow I don't.

May depend on the state. In California its very hard to transport but
one local FBO worked around it. They have the fuel company come out and
deliver directly to his truck. His truck never touches public roads.

-Robert

("Ray Andraka" wrote)
The Green Grape is born!
http://www.alexisparkinn.com/new_mighty_grape.htm

Jay, Nice truck. Your pics said the transfer tank is 55g. Doesn't Atlas
have 84 gallons worth of tanks? Does this mean you need to make at least
one trip to the gas station for each flight? I suppose the $55 or so in
savings for each full transfer tank makes it worth it, but it seems to me
by the time you figure in all the hassle and your time, that you aren't
saving all that much?


If his plane needs an extra 25 gallons to top it off, it seems well worth
the one mile drive (round trip) to go get more gas.

"Where're you going?"
"They're handing out free $20 bills up at the corner gas station"
"Hey, wait for me!"


Montblack

Jay, Nice truck. Your pics said the transfer tank is 55g. Doesn't Atlas
have 84 gallons worth of tanks? Does this mean you need to make at
least one trip to the gas station for each flight? I suppose the $55 or
so in savings for each full transfer tank makes it worth it, but it
seems to me by the time you figure in all the hassle and your time, that
you aren't saving all that much?

Clearly you must earn a lot more than I do, Ray! $55 per trip to the
airport (which, as Montblack stated, is less than 1 mile away) is worth
every moment spent messing around with it. (Actually, bringing the
truck to the hangar is MUCH easier than bringing the plane to the
self-serve pumps...)

Heck, I used to refuel Atlas from 6-gallon jerry cans, and I thought
*that* was worth it. Fueling from the Grape is simply heaven compared
to THAT nightmare.

Our average flight is a bit less than an hour each way, or between 1.5
- 2.0 hours 'round trip. This translates into from 22 to 30 gallons of
gas, so we get roughly two flights per trip to the gas station,
sometimes more, sometimes less.

Since we usually fly twice a week, we're saving (at least) $2860 per
year in fuel costs -- AND we're feeding Atlas a fuel that he is much
happier burning. It's a win-win all the way around. (Actually, right
now the price differential is $1.71 per gallon -- so the savings just
jumped to $4891 annually....)

We have an account at the gas station and get a substantial discount
because we do volume purchasing with their company. (The station is
owned by a grocery store chain that we do a lot of business with...)
All I have to do is sign for it, and they bill me at the end of the
month. It works great.

Anyone who doesn't build their own Mighty Grape is just flushing $100
bills down the toilet, IMHO. It's really not that hard to do, and (if
you shop around) you get a nice truck to drive in the bargain.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

I think there are permit issues if you want to transport over 50 gallons.
Besides, I doubt he empties the tanks every time. I nkow I don't.

Actually, the transfer tank holds 58.8 gallons, of which a smidge under
55 gallons are usable. (I cut the fuel pick-up tube a bit short...)
In Iowa, every third pickup has a fuel transfer tank in the bed --
they're more common than Volkswagens...

You would be amazed at how handy it is to be able to transport gas in
this quantity; we use the transfer tank to fuel our lawn mower(s), leaf
blower(s), leaf vacuum(s), snow blower(s), and the occasional car that
runs out of gas out front of the hotel.

And, of course, the truck itself is a rolling storage shed for all of
the various tools. We also use the truck for hauling stuff to/from the
hotel, and to the dump.

It's funny, before the Mighty Grape I always kind of laughed at guys
who drove "pick-em-up" trucks. Now, I wouldn't be without one.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote:

The Green Grape is born!

http://www.alexisparkinn.com/new_mighty_grape.htm
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"



Souldn't this one be the Might(ier) Grape?